


Crossing the Streams

by StupidSexyRosesRoom (Doc_Cairo)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, F/M, Gaming, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Multi, Sex Work, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:35:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23803207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doc_Cairo/pseuds/StupidSexyRosesRoom
Summary: Human/College AUOne is a game streamer with no experience in dating, much less sex.One is a cam girl who needs technical support.Peridot and Lapis meet in an English class, both with a particular set of skills. What begins as a teaching arrangement quickly goes off the rails.
Relationships: Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)
Comments: 35
Kudos: 186





	1. Tale of Two Streamers

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning: Lapis’ backstory contains ignored safewords and sexual assault. It should be the only non-consensual incident in this story.

"C'mon baby, let's give then the show they want…"

The intense voice of her then girlfriend drowned out all the chimes and alerts coming from the nearby laptop. Lapis tried to turn to look back at Jasper, but a strong hand turned her face back towards the camera.

She was naked, seated in Jasper's lap, eight inches of strap-on inside her. Her arms were tied behind her back. And a rope was twisted around her neck, both ends in Jasper's grasp.

That last part was not in the scene they had agreed to.

The third party in the room, via a camera, was around 200 people watching them and paying a premium to do so. The chat room split down the middle, some disturbed by the sight, and some even more horny.

"Red. Red!" Lapis hissed at her, expecting the tension around her neck to loosen. It constricted instead. "Sto-" She tried to say loudly before she was cut off gasping for air.

She passed out at some point. But Jasper had kept going. Her unconscious body was violated by the person she trusted while the camera kept rolling. And that video… it had been re-edited and re-uploaded countless times under titles like "Blue haired teen fucking destroyed" or "Goth girl passes out from breathplay" or "Lesbian submissive fucked to death".

No, she was very much alive… and her ex was very much in prison for that night.

That had been the signal to start trying to get the fuck out of sex work. The problem was, she didn't have a lot of other options. Her case worker had gotten her a grant for community college, but she still needed to keep the rent paid, the internet on, and herself fed, in that order. Which meant going back to work.

The Mistress Lazuli cam show returned from a 3-month hiatus… with about 20% of her original audience size.

Lapis had to do something about this.

* * *

"Get the fuck outta my lane you clod!"

Peridot watched her "teammate" run directly into three enemy spells in a suicidal charge. Their health bar shredded, awarding the enemy temporary buffs, now aimed squarely at her. Two seconds later, her character was dead, her screen greyed out, and on a 60-second respawn timer. 60-seconds of just her and her twitch chat.

**Amezing** : Weeeeaaaakkkk

**Sphinxman** : Dumazz

**Alagan** : Peri! show us your tits!

* **Alagan** has been banned*

**Dr.Gene** : and that's why we invest in MR kiddies

**Tmagnus** : how long till ff?

**Alagan2** : god why do I watch u

**Alagan2** : yur not good

**Alagan2** : yur a stuck up bitch

**Alagan2** : yur not even that hot

**Amezing** : stfu ya piece of shit

* **Alagan2** has been banned*

**Amezing** : ya got this Peri!

Her screen returned to full color as she respawned, visualizing the next rocket fired from her gun destroying that incel’s non-existent dick.

Winning the game, in spite of her "teammates", Peridot ended her stream and collapsed on the couch with her phone, a text message waiting.

**Amethyst** : Don't let those assholes get to you. They're not worth the time.

**Peridot** : I have a right to be angry.

**Amethyst** : I get that. Believe me I do. Unfortunately, it just comes with the territory.

**Peridot** : Sometimes I wish I could just lean into it and shut them up. Probably make more money if I did.

**Amethyst** : Yeah, but that's not you.

**Peridot** : Fucking PauletteParagon sells those idiots thirty dollar bottles of water with her tits on them, and I'm lucky to get enough subs for a pizza half the time. I'm just so sick of it!

**Amethyst** : I'm trying to sympathize, but I'm bailing if this is gonna be another Paulette rant.

**Peridot** : Sorry.

**Amethyst** : See you in class tomorrow?

**Peridot** : Yeah.

**Amethyst** : Later.

**Peridot** : Ciao.

Peridot flipped through to her class schedule. Fall semester, sophomore year. Lab chem with Amethyst as her lab partner in the morning, then engineering physics with Dr. Bismuth. And an elective literature class to round out the day. Amethyst was supposed to be in all three with her, but the last one filled up and Amethyst couldn't get in. So that would be a class full of strangers. She sighed and flipped back to Twitch.

PauletteParagon was streaming, with the title “STRIP LEAGUE - 1 DEATH = 1 ITEM”, and the thumbnail already showed her in a revealing tank top with lots of cleavage and a vapid look on her face that made Peridot want to hurl her phone.

Why did she even bother?

* * *

"...so really, like so many things, this is really Lord Byron's fault."

Lapis was snapped from her daydream and only caught the tail end of… whatever she'd been talking about.

"The archetype of the 'byronic' hero gradually evolved into what we today call the anti-hero… and set a bad example for male characters for hundreds of years…" Garnet (no miss, no professor, no anything, at her insistence) turned back to the board and began writing down the names of some well known fictional characters and discussing toxic masculinity.

Lapis knew she should be paying more attention… but it was supposed to just be syllabus day. She hadn't mentally prepared to actually learn. The cute blonde sitting next to her also seemed ill-prepared, as she appeared to have committed to some kind of game on her laptop before Garnet had begun actually teaching, and was flipping between a game screen and note taking screen and probably doing a poor job at both while looking flustered. During one of the in-between moments the desktop was visible, a familiar icon caught her eye. The same streaming software she had at home, it's distinct black-and-white shape unmistakable.

"Your homework this week is to read through  _ Bloody Poet _ ry. It'll transition to our discussion on Mary Shelly." Garnet turned away from the board. "You all can read, so I'm not going to read the syllabus to you. Instead, for the remainder of class time, talk amongst yourselves."

She had certainly done things out of order, but it had only called to attention how formulaic the rest of the classes had been. Lapis sighed into her desk, questioning what she was doing here. College had sounded great on paper but…

Head resting on the desk, she looked over at the blonde, still gaming but now with renewed concentration. And in moments of intense concentration, the barest hint of her tongue sticking out through her lips. Like a cat. Blep. It was cute. And when that concentration paid off there was a big smile. The suppressed laughter that became under breath snickering. A victory message lit her screen and she crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and gave a satisfied nod. And then she was noticed.

* * *

RIP yet another nexus. And she'd done it while taking notes for 80% of the time too. And she'd gone unnoticed… except for the blue haired girl in the next row, staring at her with a slight smile.

"Uh… hi." She responded to the stare. The staring girl startled, clearly not expecting her to notice.

"Hi…" The blue haired girl replied. "Sorry… couldn't help but notice your game."

"Yeah… please don't tell the teacher about that." She replied. "I was expecting yet another syllabus walk through and thought I had time."

"Why not just quit then? Or pause it?"

"It's an online game, ya can't pause it… MOM." Peridot tacked on a sarcastic quip that thankfully landed as the blue haired girl chuckled. "And quitting… its a team game. You leave and you make other people lose. I mean, they'll temp ban your account if you do it a bunch on purpose, but I've had enough strangers abandon me to know how bad it feels."

"Ah… ok." She answered and looked away. 

_Darn it Peri!_ A mental representation of Amethyst "ultimate wingman" Quartz shook her own mental projection. _She's cute and she took an interest in your game, but you went in too much detail and scared her off! Salvage this! Names! Now!_

"I'm… Peridot." She managed to spit out.

"Lapis." She leaned her head back down on the desk. "Nice to meet you."

Lapis huh? Nice name. Name matched her hair. Peridot tried green dye on her's once as a teenager for a charity stream. Her Mom was awful about it though, made her get most of it cut off.

"So… are you in this class because you want to be or…"

"General ed English elective." Lapis responded. "Same?"

"Yeah."

"Eyy… misery buddies." She held her hand out limply for a sarcastic fist-bump. Peridot reciprocated, and it got awkward and quiet for a moment again. As she wracked her brain for a conversation, Lapis spoke up.

"Is that OpenStreamer?" She nodded at Peridot's desktop.

"Oh!" Peridot snatched up the return to tech discussion. "Yeah. I stream on Twitch a lot. Do you stream too?" Fellow gamer.. Fellow gamer… fellow gamer… she chanted hopefully in her head.

"Uh… yeah! Just, not very often." Lapis answered.

"That's cool! What do you usually play…"

"Um…" She paused. "...Mario Kart?" She seemed embarrassed by her answer.

_ Ouch. Filthy casual.  _ Mental wingman Amethyst shook her head.

_ Shut up l can live with that!  _ Mental lonely Peridot shot back.

"... And um… sometimes Pokemon."

Peridot's first instinct was to ask her about her favorite gen, but decided it might come off as too… gatekeeper-ey.

"Cool. I mostly play League, but I also stream Auto-Chess, Overwatch, and popular new releases."

"So you stream a lot then?" Lapis asked. "Like, professionally?"

"I mean, it's not a full time job or anything, but I get enough donations, subs and ad revenue to cover half my rent." Lapis looked impressed. "Well, a quarter of the rent." She downplayed. "Already split with a roommate."

"That's still cool." Lapis said. "I uh… could never figure out how to do monetization myself. I had a… friend who used to help me with it but…" Lapis paused into a thousand yard stare.

"I mean. I could walk you through it if you need help." Peridot offered.

"Uh… thanks." Lapis said. "Maybe some other time?"

"Sure." Peridot got a piece of paper. "This is my channel. Message me outside of class and we can talk about it. What's your channel name?"

Lapis turned a little pale. "Umm… I don't remember off hand. It's been so long I need to log in and check." She explained. "But I'll check you ou- check your channel out!" She corrected herself, but not without Peridot blushing. 

Class ended as Peridot headed home with a spring in her step. Another gamer girl… very attractive… and flirting with her? Was this a prank? Was she actually flirting or was Peridot just that desperate? She pushed the questions down and spent the walk home in the fantasy…

* * *

"Ooohhh…" Lapis exaggerated her pleasure for the camera. This toy barely did anything for her but it played well on camera and she was at least proud of her acting in this regard. Not so proud of that performance in class though. Yeah, she streamed GAMES. 

The vibrating wand's narrow head slid off her clit as she penetrated herself with it and another fake moan. On the screen in front of her, there was a meager chat feed, but she could mostly ignore it. Her audience did pay to get in...but she hasn't been lying about the monetization problems. Donations and tips were still shut down since they had filtered through Jasper's account and Lapis just couldn't figure out how to change it. That was where the real money was. 

Maybe… if she kept it vague, she could learn how to fix it through Peridot. She just had to hide what kind of streaming she really did. Maybe do some fake gaming streams to maintain the ruse? A real-life acquaintance finding out about her work would be… messy. No matter how cute they were.

Her audience had no way of knowing that she was thinking of the girl in her class, but at least a few of them could tell that THAT orgasm wasn't faked.


	2. Take You for a Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and Lapis talk with respective friends, while Peridot's roommate Pearl makes a new "friend".

As running water concealed the sweat, Peridot stood in the shower at an awkward angle, trying to get off.

Masturbation had always been a tricky prospect for her. It wasn't that she didn't have a sex drive, it was that until moving out in the previous year she had no outlet. No privacy to experiment. No courage to try anywhere but the shower for fear of leaving a stain or smell or some other evidence. Her mother wasn't around… but it wasn't like she had the place to herself.

"Peridot! Are you almost done in there?" Her roommate, Pearl, spoke through a crack in the bathroom door. Peridot instinctually froze, thankful for the opaque curtain rather than frosted glass that would have revealed a compromising position. "I need to get ready."

"Yeah… gimme like two more minutes!" She answered, giving up on the attempt. She heard the door click and sighed.

Pearl was a friend of Amethyst's, neighbors growing up on the same street together. Peridot was grateful for her introducing them as two students needing to split the rent… but Pearl could be a bit much. Her cleanliness standards were far too high for college life. She poked her large nose into her business ALMOST as often as her Mom had. And she was uber-serious about her schooling and career path. She seemed to have her life together 300% better than Peridot. She came across smug about that fact, but Peridot acknowledged that maybe she just perceived her that way out of jealousy.

Wrapping herself in a towel, the short girl pushed past Pearl in the hallway with a polite nod, before heading to her own room and closing the door. She laid the towel down on the bed and sat on it, considering her options. She heard the running water resume… but Pearl's showers were quick. She had maybe 5 minutes. Maybe she could finish… hide the towel… do laundry while Pearl was at her lecture… shower off before she got back…

_ Stop stop stop! _

She was an adult. She shouldn't have to act with such secrecy. She shouldn't be so afraid of someone finding out. She wasn't in that house now so why was she so afraid?

Unfortunately, that train of thought killed what was left of her horniness, resetting her progress bar to zero. She gave up, got dressed, and called Amethyst to see if she wanted to come play some fighting games or something.

* * *

"Ugh…" Lapis futilely tapped at the keyboard.

She had had a Skype call with Peridot earlier, who had walked her through how to monetize the Twitch account she had just made for her cover story. It seemed simple enough.

The problem was, CrystalCams DID NOT work anything like that. She was still as lost as ever.

**Sadie Killer:** You holding up ok?

The IM wasn't a surprise, but the timing was. She swore that woman had a sixth sense. Sadie was… a friend… in an awkward way. They'd never spoken outside of IMs… and they'd only met because of what happened.

After she'd dropped off the face of the web after what happened with Jasper, she'd emailed Lapis. She said she saw what happened and wanted to make sure she was ok. Offered to be someone to talk to. Encouraged her to go to the police, about getting a case worker, everything.

Just completely plowed into her out of the blue with support she didn't ask for but was too fucked up at the time to question. A really good person… which Lapis found surprising given that her cam girl niche was cock and ball torture.

**MistressL:** Fine I guess. First week of classes finished today.

**SadieKiller:** How was it?

**MistressL** : Easy enough. Unlike this website.

**Sadie Killer** : You could still jump over to my site.

**MistressL** : And start over building a viewer base? Ain't nobody got time for that.

**Sadie Killer** : I mean… even if you get the donation/request stuff up… will you be ok?

**MistressL** : I have to be. I'm on my last month of rent.

**Sadie Killer** : : ( I would still look into getting someone to help you. They don't have to physically be there… but like, someone who can read the chat off to you so you don't have to stop and read all the time.

**MistressL** : It's not a bad idea, but how the fuck would I find someone for that? AND I still gotta fix this.

**Sadie Killer** : I mean… I could help in a pinch but…

**MistressL** : I just had a very reckless idea.

**Sadie Killer** : ?

* * *

"So this is happening." Amethyst muttered from inside Peridot's closet as the bedsprings on the other side of the door creaked.

"OH GOD! ROSE!!"

* * *

They'd been at best 6 out of 10 in Marvel vs Capcom when Pearl came back from her lecture. With company. Amethyst had excitedly pulled Peridot into her closet to hide. Muttered something about how she never expected Pearl to actually pick someone up. That they should pretend they weren't there so Pearl could lose her v-card.

"Peridot?" Pearl opened the bedroom door. "Are you here? Did you go out somewhere?" Her voice went sing-songy, they could practically hear her smile. The only sound in the room was the character select music left playing on the tv. "Hmpf… why does she keep leaving this stuff on when she goes out? She's driving up the electric bill…"

"So we've got the place to ourselves then?" A voice neither of them recognized asked. It was mature… sultry. Amethyst peeked through the slotted cracks of the closet door and started mouthing… M...I… L…

"Ah… yes…" Pearl blushed.

"Excellent… we don't have to be quiet then…"

"... There are still neighbors." Pearl said with a gulp.

"Nothing a little music can't hide." Quickly, the volume on the TV was raised to near maximum.

_ I wanna take you for a ride… _

"Like this song…" The woman smiled before approaching Pearl.

"Wait… this is her room though…" Pearl held her hands up.

_ I wanna take you for a ride… _

"I know…" The pink-haired woman kissed her deeply, full on the lips. "Doesn't that get you hot?"

"Mmmmm…" Pearl allowed herself to be laid down on Peridot's bed. There was an unzipping of pants.

_ I wanna take you for a ride… _

* * *

Amethyst and a petrified Peridot hid in the closet for the next hour… the constant lyric of the character select screen punctuating cries of wild pleasure. They had to assume her name was Rose given how many times she said it, and at many volumes. They communicated with each other by text despite sitting across from each other a foot apart.

**Amethyst:** I am so sorry, I did not think it would go down in here.

**Peridot:** I don't think either of us saw that coming.

**Amethyst:** I'll uh… pay to replace your sheets?

**Peridot** : We'll see.

Peridot paused, reading another incoming message. She smiled.

**Amethyst** : Whazzat for?

**Peridot** : Oh… there's this girl in my literature class… she wants to meet me for coffee tomorrow.

**Amethyst** : Oh snap, Peri-date!

Eventually, the two lovers departed together for the shower, and the two snuck off to crash at Amethyst's for the night. 

Peridot wondered if her sheets would be laundered when she got back tomorrow, a nice gesture on Pearl's part. Either way… she has all the counterplay she would ever need if Pearl ever walked in on her...


	3. Grounds for Negotiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis comes clean with Peridot and asks for more direct help.

_ Grounds for Discussion  _ was less a coffee shop and more a pun given life and form as a business. It was a bookstore, a coffee house, an ice cream parlor, and had way more seating than it ever used on a typical day. Speculation was that the "bottomless cup" special they ran the last three weeks of each semester was the only thing keeping them in business. There was also a rumor that the couple who owned and ran the place were secretly loaded and ran it at a loss for the passion. Also a rumor that both of them had been seen having full on discussions with a cat that lived in the store in defiance of all local ordinance.

College towns were full of eccentric people, Peridot guessed.

Peridot entered the store, nodded politely to the man behind the counter, and wandered towards one of the reading tables in the bookstore section. Lapis was sitting there, an open book on the table, but distracted by the aforementioned cat, who purred as she scratched along it's spine.

"Hey."

"Hi Lapis." Peridot sat down. "How are things?"

"Umm… they're ok." She answered half heartedly. "I uh… wanted to talk to you about the other day."

"Ok." Peridot shrugged.

"So… I lied to you. About my streaming." Peridot's face fell.

"I kinda figured that. You didn't have any broadcast history." Peridot answered. "I thought maybe you were trying to get into it… but…"

"I… had a good reason to lie." She said. "I… I want to tell you, and if you want to walk away after that that's fine." Peridot raised an eyebrow. Lapis stopped petting the cat, who turned and gave her a resentful look before disappearing into the paperback fiction aisle. She took out her phone, opened a page and slid it across the table.

CrystalCams.

Peridot hadn't heard of it… but based on the web design, what little text she saw, and a VERY graphic banner ad, she knew what type of site it was.

"I… have a show on here." Lapis's face quickly turned red. "I don't play video games… people pay me to do… sex stuff." 

Peridot looked with stunned silence for a few moments, noticed someone about to pass their table, and quickly flipped the phone face down before sliding it back to Lapis.

"So… that's… interesting." Peridot tried to be non-judgemental. Her prudish upbringing had made her instinctively recoil, despite what she'd learned about sexuality since breaking free. There was a quick surge of anger; she was like Paulette, selling sex appeal for attention she didn't deserve… but no… Lapis was at least being straightforward about it. There was no ambiguity. 

Then there was a surge of embarrassment: she'd been crushing on a cam girl without knowing about it. Then came a surge of lust: oh god she could go find her archive and see EVERYTHING. Finally, it all circled back to confusion and curiosity.

"Why… are you telling me now?" Peridot asked. "Yeah I agree, that's a pretty justifiable lie since we only met like a week ago. I… won't hold it against you. Just tell me why?"

Lapis seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She took back the phone.

"So… I don't know the tech or business side of… my business… very well." Lapis explained. "My ex… she set all that up for me. Ran my chat. Managed the donations. I just… performed." Lapis explained. "So when I heard you streamed gaming, I thought maybe I could learn that stuff from you. I knew it would be different since it's a different site but I thought I could figure it out." Peridot nodded. "But, not only is it really different… I just can't do it all at once. I watched one of your streams and you seem good at multitasking, but given what I'm doing… I don't really have capacity for anything else."

"Ok." Peridot acknowledged. She had explained the reason for the lie, but still hadn't broached why she was coming clean now.

"The stream is my only income right now. I've got a grant for school but my rent's coming up and I gotta start getting results. So…" She clasped her hands together. "Could you help me get the monetization working and moderate my stream for a few weeks? I obviously couldn't pay you right away but I'm sure we could work something out…"

**Peridot.exe** **has stopped working. Press any key to…**

An incredibly hot girl… who she had a crush on… had revealed herself as a cam girl… and effectively asked her to come watch her stream. Act as a go between for her and an audience making sexual requests. And in return she offered not money but "working something out". Which she could only assume was code for…

**Peridot.exe** **has stopped working. A fatal exception has occurred. Please restart your…**

Lapis was looking worried. Peridot knew she was blue-screening in the most obvious way. She had to say something. Anything.

"Ice cream! I need ice cream, give me a second!"

That was not an appropriate response. But she'd already stood up.

"Do you want some?"

"Um… sure I guess."

"What flavor?"

"Rocky road?"

Peridot wandered to the front of the store with a shaky facial expression. Unintentional though it was she'd bought herself two or three minutes to think.

Ok… she really shouldn't assume what Lapis meant by working something out. But straight up asking for clarification would be horribly awkward. She'd have to work that out through context. As she returned with the cones, she had a few questions worked out in her head.

"Thanks." Lapis accepted the ice cream as Peridot dat back down and took a bite out of her chocolate/peanut butter. "Is… that a stress reaction?"

"More or less." Peridot answered. "Sorry."

"No it's my fault. I put you on the spot way too quickly."

"Is there a reason you wanted to talk here?"

"If it went bad and we made a scene I'd rather it be off campus and a public place." Lapis explained. "And if I tried this over the phone or text you'd think I was full of shit."

"Good point." Peridot took another bite. As Lapis raised her ice cream to her mouth for the first time, it became clear that she was not a biter… she was a licker. And the worst part was that Peri wasn't sure if she'd done so erotically on purpose or not.

"So… I can probably fix your donations stuff." Peridot offered. "But what exactly would you need me to do for… moderation?" She broached.

"Well…" Lapis looked flustered. "Obviously bouncing anyone causing trouble. Just like on your chats. But like… I'd be wearing a tiny earpiece. And I would need you to read relevant things in the chat out to me so I could respond. Especially requests attached to the donations." Lapis paused. "There's some… other things. Jasper used to do them for me, but you wouldn't have to. Only what your comfortable with."

"What kind of things?"

"Things I can't talk about in public."

Peridot had to fight to resist a third system crash. She rushed to her last question.

"Do you…" She quickly rephrased. "Are you only interested in my technical knowledge or…"

"That's a roundabout way to ask if I like you." Lapis took another drag off her ice cream as Peridot blushed. "I think you're cute, and funny, and honestly a lot smarter than me." Lapis said. "But I'm not asking for a relationship if that's what you mean. It's only been a week. And believe me, I wouldn't be asking this of you if I wasn't a few weeks away from homeless." She paused. "Plus my last romantic relationship ended badly. I'm not ready yet."

"I see." Peridot tried to hide her disappointment despite the compliments.

"Now… give it some time… We get to know each other better… that could change." Lapis said, taking out her phone. She concluded her thought with a text.

_ Friends with Benefits is on the table… if that's what you're really asking. I just can't handle actual romance right now. _

Peridot bit nervously into the cone.

"That's… not what I meant. But I appreciate your honesty."

"Ok." Lapis stared into space for a moment. "So… what would you want?"

"Well, I…" Peridot paused. "Having not seen it… I assume it takes a lot of confidence? Feeling comfortable with your sexuality?"

"To a degree."

"Well I'm… not." She answered. "When I'm gaming… playing a character… I can kinda borrow some confidence from them but in real life? Pftt." She paused for a second. "And I'm really not comfortable in my own skin. So many of my streaming rivals can flaunt their stuff and I just sit there in an oversized hoodie." Peridot came round. "So for now… maybe I can learn from you?"

Lapis blushed.

"I uh… that could be arranged." She answered. "Is that a yes?"

"It's what I'd get out of it if I did." Peridot replied. "But I want some time to think about it. Is that alright?"

"Of course." Lapis stood up. "Thanks for hearing me out… and for the ice cream." She took out a pen and wrote on the unused napkin her cone had come wrapped in. "This is my screen name on that site. And a password to view my archive." She stood up, leaned over Peridot in her seat, and with their faces inches apart, slid the paper into her shirt's high neckline. "Sexiness lesson 1: A healthy disrespect for personal space…"

**Peridot.exe is not responding. You can either terminate the task now or wait for it to respond...**


	4. Age Gate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst the babysitter and dancing around a conversation

Peridot walked home lost in thought. She resisted the urge to go straight to the site on her phone… she was still in public after all and her laptop back home had far more robust antivirus. But damn if it wasn't the first thing she was doing when she got home…

"Yo Peri!"

Amethyst greeted her when she walked in. This wasn't that weird; Amethyst was her and Pearl's mutual friend so sometimes she'd be there visiting Pearl when Peridot wasn't home. What was more surprising was a small child playing on HER Playstation, which had been moved out of her bedroom into the living room.

The boy had brown curly hair, wore a red shirt and blue jeans, and looked like he was somewhere in the 6-12 age range. He had a calm smile on his face as he roamed the Destiny Islands section of Kingdom Hearts. He turned to look at her and smiled and waved.

"So first, I made sure he didn't overwrite any save data." Amethyst chose an odd priority. "Second, this is Steven. He's Pearl's new girlfriend's kid. Pearl's paying me to babysit while she and Rose are on a date."

"... Is she paying you in pie again?"

"Yes." Amethyst licked her lips. Peridot had to concede her roommate was an incredible baker. Just another of those life skills she used to show her up day by day.

"Hello… Steven." Peridot spoke to the boy.

"Hello Miss Peridot." The boy said politely. "Thank you for letting me play your game." He was very well spoken for his apparent age. While she never had given permission, she saw no harm and didn't feel there was anything to gain by contradicting Amethyst.

"You're welcome." She wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water before returning to sit down next to Amethyst.

"So how'd your date go?"

"It wasn't a date!" Peridot protested. "It was… weird. I'll tell you about it later."

"Uh oh… did you blue screen or something?"

"Only twice!" It had actually been thrice.

"Ouch."

"So Pearl's girlfriend has a kid? How old is she?"

"Pearl said she's 26. And Steven here is…"

"8." He volunteered. She'd had a child at 18 then.

"So yeah, she's 5 years older than Pearl, but I guess they're in the same classes because she started college late because of Steven." On screen, a volleyball smacked Steven's character in the face… which he'd been expertly dodging up till that point.

"And I guess they really hit it off…" Amethyst wiggled her eyebrows at Peridot. Peridot instantly recalled being trapped in the closet during Pearl and Rose's hour long sex-romp the night before… but now she couldn't help but wonder who was watching her kid at the time. She really hoped he hadn't been home alone or in her car or something during all that.

"Anyway…" Peridot tried to revert the topic away from last night and decided some lies of omission about Lapis were her best bet. "We had ice cream. She's still having trouble with her tech… asked me to come over sometime to take a look."

"You already got invited over?!" Amethyst grinned. "When did you get game?" Peridot blushed silently, and glanced at Steven. "Oh… right. Probably shouldn't…" Steven paused the game.

"Back in a bit." He told them as he walked off to the bathroom. Once they were alone, Peridot exploded, whisper-yelling at her friend.

"She's a cam girl!" She said exasperated. "That's the kind of streaming she needs help with! And she offered to pay for the help with sex!"

**Amethyst.exe has encountered-**

"THE FUCK?!"

"I know!"

"HOLY-"

"Quiet! He'll hear us."

"You're fucking with me right?"

"I was gonna check the site she gave me to see if she was fucking with me when I got home." 

"Well what are you waiting for?"

"The kid…"

"I'll keep him occupied. Just go lock up in your room with headphones."

"Seriously?"

"He's eight, he's not gonna know."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. Now go watch your crush fuck herself." Amethyst pushed Peridot off the couch towards her bedroom.

"Thanks." Peridot whispered before closing the door and locking it.

* * *

As she had predicted, her sheets had been changed. The sounds of Pearl and Rose fucking on her bed were on her mind as the lay down in it, pulling her laptop in front of her as she lay on her stomach. She pulled the URL out, made sure her anti-virus and pop-up blockers were running, and went looking for "Mistress Lazuli" on Crystal Cams.

She found the profile, created three years ago. And it was definitely Lapis. There were many still pictures… most in lingerie or swim suits. Small clips that auto-played without sound, showing her fingering herself through her underwear, or deep throating a didlo. There was a prompt to either subscribe or enter a code for the full archive. Peridot typed in the code that was on the paper. 

And the floodgates opened.

Hundreds of hours of archived streams appeared, Peridot getting a full look at her classmate in the thumbnails. Her pierced nipples and belly button. Her clean shaven pelvis. Her lying on her back exhausted as white fluid leaked from her pussy. Some beautiful blue tattoos on her back visible as she inserted a tail plug. One showed her wearing a collar and chain around her neck and sticking out her tongue as an off screen hand pulled the chain taught. The more recent ones were solo, but there were older ones with another woman in them, large and muscular. Presumably the ex Lapis had mentioned. But most interestingly… the newest video was labeled "Private - Peridot". She clicked on it.

Lapis sat on a bed, modestly clothed compared to the other thumbnails. She was wearing fishnet leggings and a super-oversized black band t-shirt that covered as much as a dress.

"Hey Peri." Lapis spoke. "If you're seeing this it means I went through with asking you. It's Friday night, and this video should only be viewable with the password I gave you." Peridot suddenly remembered she had not yet gotten her headphones and went into a panicked scramble for them, forgetting she could just pause the video. "I've only known you for about a week, but you seem smart and nice and kinda cute as a bonus. But I'm worried that… seeing what I really am will scare you off. That's why I wanted to record this… to say what I need to say that I might not be able to tomorrow. And if you wanna walk away… that's fine."

Peridot managed to get the headphones in before she could continue.

"I started dating and fucking this girl named Jasper when I was 16." Lapis explained. "I was still closeted but she was open and very confident. She made me feel great about myself and I discovered how I loved sex… it was so great I didn't mind when my family kicked me out for being gay. Jasper let me stay with her… and that's when I started doing cam shows. I loved sex and thought, hey, why not get paid for it? And she was into it too! Maybe too into it."

"I don't wanna talk about it… but things started to go bad between us. We were gonna do this…" Lapis paused, choking up a little. "... Fuck it it's out there if you look. We broke up and she went to jail." She paused to collect herself, rubbing her eyes on her shirt.

"I just… I don't know if I can trust someone again." She said. "Sex is one thing but… I don't want a relationship. I don't want to be betrayed again. So if we do this… it's gotta be just business all right?"

"That said… I know you came here for a sample right?" She shifted her posture and tone like a professional actress. "Friends with benefits with me is…" She reached down to lift up her shirt…

Peridot paused the video and closed the window.

She took out her phone and called Lapis.

"Peridot?" She answered on the first ring. Had she been waiting?

"I'll do it. No strings attached." Peridot told her.

"Really? But… why…"

"Because you deserve a friend." The tears she had been holding back cut loose. "And because I can't go home either…"


	5. That Escalated Quickly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first session of Lapis' live show gets Peridot hot and bothered, their "just business" arrangement falling apart.
> 
> And some other juicy secrets just for you, but not the cast... Yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enough teasing for now.

Login: Mistress_Lazuli

Password: *************

It felt surreal to click "Sign In" on a website like this. She was more the type to browse from behind seven proxies; not accept login cookies from the back alley drifter of websites.

Peridot fixed the monetization. She surveyed the chat moderation tools. She set up a one-way audio channel. She could speak to Lapis to a single, wireless ear bud. And Peridot could hear her talk back over the stream. Everything was ready to go. Amethyst had made "arrangements" to keep Pearl out for a few hours even.

"Hey Peri." Lapis sounded cheerful but looked apprehensive when the camera turned on. She was sitting cross legged on a bed, wearing blue underwear and a white crop top, exposing her stomach and the silver and blue piercing dangling on her navel. Her face was also made up with heavy eye shadow. And a black choker collar.

"Good evening." She said a bit too formally and loudly, out of nervousness and attraction. Lapis winced slightly, before adjusting a slider on her phone.

"Remember, you're right in my ear. That was a little loud."

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Lapis told her. "Do you want to go over it one more time?"

"I kick anyone acting like a dick." Peridot responded. "I read off to you what the chat is saying… especially donations."

"Right. If you need to ask me a question, make it yes or no, and I'll respond by closing one eye or the other for a second. Right yes, left no."

"Ok…" Peridot breathed deeply. "The uh… latency is really low on here. Wonder if it's just because of the lower volume or if their software…"

"Are you sure you're ok?" Lapis cut her off.

"Yes…" Peridot said hesitantly. "I've never watched anything live, but I've seen porn. I can handle it."

"Alright then… going live…"

* * *

Rose was getting fucked.

More specifically, Rose Quartz, her alter ego for the cameras. Her alter ego who enjoyed getting treated like a piece of meat. Living a lie for so long made her a very consistent actress. Her pleasure came from emotional connection… soft touches… intimacy…

"You like that whore?" What may as well have been a faceless man barked from behind her. She lay on her stomach on a hard surface, arms and legs bound spread eagle by ropes. Her disheveled hair hid her face as she answered.

"Yes sir… please…"

She made all the sounds she was expected to. She followed the script. This wasn't the kind of scene she liked, but a woman of her build didn't have a wealth of options in this industry.

She felt the heat as the condom inside her fill up. The man behind her pulled out. Another took his place. Someone else stepped in front of her, grabbing handfuls of her pink dyed curly hair, the curtain parting to reveal another erection which would be in her mouth in a few seconds.

Rose Quartz, tagged as both BBW and MILF. Popular for bondage, rough sex, and gangbangs. She had a niche and it paid well… enough to support her and her son.

But damn did she not like it.

* * *

"Godhead donated $50… wants to see you "deepthroat the wolf"... I hope you know what that means." Peridot said, emphasizing the quotes. In response, Lapis rose from her laying down position, adjusting the camera away from her pelvis.

"Ooh… I like that Godhead… let me fetch it…" She stepped off camera for a moment. She returned moments later with a large, distinctly non-human shaped grey dildo. A suction cup secured it in front of the camera. "I don't know if I could take the knot though… or can I?" She teased, before licking up the length of the shaft.

To say Peridot was flustered was an understatement. She had repeated the chat's dirty talk to Lapis over the last half hour. Things she had never said out loud before in any context. She had gotten the full look at Lapis she could have had earlier with the video archive but had restrained herself from. Her chest was beautiful, but Peridot found herself most attracted to her back. Something about those tattoos drove her wild and she could only imagine running her fingers across the faux feathers and kissing Lapis' neck…

_ FOCUS CLOD _

This was proving to be more of a struggle than she'd anticipated. She wanted more than anything to stop talking and start on herself. Lapis lips pushed up against the large, knotted part of the dildo but couldn't pass it. She pulled away from it with a string of saliva to her lips.

"Well… the knot was a no go… at least for that hole." Lapis sighed. "My longtime fans though… you know what I mean." She winked.

"Lapis… the chat's dead now. I think you killed them." She joked. More likely they were still cleaning themselves off and not typing.

"Aww, it got awfully quiet in here." Lapis said. "Somebody speak up! You know I just can't get off without you all watching right?"

"PurplePanda donated $100…" Peridot read. "Wants you to do a JOI for female members of the audience. What's JOI mean?" Peridot asked reflexively, forgetting Lapis couldn't directly answer.

"Ooh, sounds good to me." Lapis answered. "Sorry boys, this might be tricky to follow without an active imagination, but we'll get you off soon enough."

Peridot opened in incognito tab on her phone to search for a definition. JOI apparently stood for "jack off instructions"... guided masturbation.

"This goes out to PurplePanda… but I'd love it if ALL the girls watching would join in…" Lapis stared directly at the camera. Peridot couldn't take it anymore.

"Does that include me?" 

Left eye closed in an extended wink. A yes.

"First… let's get all those clothes out of the way…"

Peridot removed the headset to strip off her top, and hopped out of bed to strip the rest of the way. She pulled the headphones out so she could hear, but kept the microphone aimed at her.

"Now… using only your pinky finger, start working your clit…"

* * *

Rose was in the shower after the shoot. No amount of water or soap made her feel less dirty. She had rope burns on her thighs and certainly some bruises. She'd have to refrain from showing any skin for a week or so. Disappointing… she could really go for a massage right now. Or a nice cuddle with Pearl. No no… too risky. She couldn't know about this. She stopped the water. There was one gentle touch she would still receive that evening.

Her son hugged her when she got home. He was young and innocent and oblivious to what her special job was. He just knew she didn't like it and did it because she had to. And that a hug made her feel better.

She really didn't deserve Steven. She had to make a better life for him. She had to make sure he never found out.

* * *

As they went, Peridot asked several times if Lapis was sure she was ok with this, but more yes winks and more enthusiastic instructions kept coming. Lapis set the pace based on Peridot's moans and pleas. At one point she had told Lapis she was going to cum and Lapis had ordered a temporary halt to edge things out.

"Now… if you have any toys… get them out." Lapis ordered. Peridot hesitantly withdrew a cheap vibrator wand from her nightstand. It had been a gag gift from Amethyst but… "Play with it at your pussy. I'm sure your all wet right now… get that toy wet…"

Peridot started on the outside, running the wand down her stomach… grinding on her clit… down onto her vagina. Droplets fell to the floor, disturbed by the vibration. She pushed the head in, penetrating herself by less than an inch but feeling the head inside. She moaned.

"Lapis… please… are we done yet?" She asked in desperation. Lapis did not a blink a response, but kept going, a wand in her own hand.

"Now… take that toy that's full of you… and pretend it's me. Put it to your mouth…" She lie on her back and put her wand to her own pussy. "Use your mouth to make ME go crazy… and use your free hand to finish yourself off." Lapis said. "We'll come together ok?"

Peridot had never done anything like this. She had, hypothetically, fantasized about the taste of other girls… had never tried herself… no… that wasn't the instruction. This was Lapis in her hand now. As Peridot's tongue touched it, the sound of Lapis' moan overwhelmed any sensation of taste. Peridot produced an exaggerated sound as she dragged her tongue across it, and put her free hand to work. 

Peridot closed her eyes. She was with Lapis. She was tasting her. She was causing those moans, causing her pleasure. Lapis' hand was between her legs, not her own.

"Oh fuck Lapis…"

"Almost there! Counting down…" Lapis told the whole room. "5…"

Peridot muffled herself by putting the whole wand head in her mouth.

"4…"

Lapis imagined the small blonde's head between her legs.

"3…"

Peridot dropped her second hand down to assist.

"2…"

Lapis realized this had gotten out of hand. Their "strictly business" arrangement had gone out the window.

"1…"

Peridot leaned forward and face down into the bed to muffle her loud orgasm as the wand fell from her mouth.

"Zerooo!"

* * *

The blue haired camgirl squirted for the camera. Her viewer came too. Damn was Lazuli hot. She wanted nothing more than to grab a double sided strap on and gape that ass. She sent another $20 tip, saying as much. It took a while to respond, but she said she was flattered, and would do some anal play next time.

PurplePanda logged out.

Amethyst headed for the shower… clueless that her favorite camgirl was her friend's new friend with benefits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Peridot are gonna have an awkward conversation... and then naturally some in-person sex.
> 
> Rose is gonna try to keep her secret from her new crush.
> 
> Amethyst is gonna meet Peri's new GF(?) and have an interesting reaction to say the least.
> 
> Steven remains a pure cinnamon roll who can't know about any of this.
> 
> Oh, and everyone's still dealing with college. Don't worry, drama on that front is coming!


	6. Just Chatting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some important and emotional backstory. Also bar food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention: This chapter contains backstory about emotional/physical abuse related to orientation. Nothing graphic is described, but please use caution if that sort of thing impacts you.

"So the next time some dude bro tries to tell you sci-fi is a boy's club, Mary Shelley gives you full permission to punch them in the face."

Garnet's lesson was wrapping up, as usual, with a colorful metaphor. Peridot honestly was enjoying the class more than she thought she would… but 18th century novelists and their impacts on genre fiction was the last thing on her mind right now.

Lapis has been just barely late to class, just enough that they couldn't talk before hand. The last hour had been a torture test trying not to think about her while she was a few feet away.

"Your assignment this week is to analyze any adaptation of Frankenstein of your choosing. Analyze what it adapts, what it excludes, how it differs from the original and why, and how that changes or honors the intent of the original. Be prepared with a brief clip and presentation next week."

Garnet didn't so much dismiss the class as she did herself… first out of the room at the end of the hour before any of her students.

"Wonder what she's in a hurry for." Lapis spoke to her.

"Hey…" Peridot acknowledged.

"Hey."

Awkward silence as they packed up their things, a little slower than everyone else.

"So… do you wanna talk about last night or…"

"I'm so sorry!" Peridot blurted out. "I got caught up in the moment it won't happen again!" She rushed.

"Whoa… it's alright." She stopped her. "I didn't mind." She looked away. "Helped me out a little actually…" she said to herself in a quiet and embarrassed tone. Peridot only heard a mumble.

"So… we should still probably talk about it." Peridot eventually said.

"Yeah." Lapis answered. "Let's go eat?"

"Sure."

* * *

_ The Opal _ was a fancy and pompous name for the on-campus bar. Nestled in the student union, it was the only legal source of alcohol on-campus… it's posh name and atmosphere tended to keep the frats away though. What it did have was pretty good bar food and a reputation as a dating venue. When Lapis redirected them there out of the food court, that's all Peridot could think about: was this a date?

"So… I wanna say that was a success." Lapis referred to the previous night as they sat down in a booth. "One or two more nights like that and I'll have my rent."

"That's good." Peridot tried to hide behind the laminated menu.

"Thank you again for the help." Lapis said sincerely.

"S'fine…" Peridot mumbled. Lapis frowned.

"I… I get that you're embarrassed but… we need to talk about it."

"There's all these people around though…" Peridot gestured with a tilt of the head. The room wasn't packed by any means, but they certainly didn't have privacy.

"No one's gonna care." Lapis assured her.

"I do."

"Why?"

Peridot clammed up, actively raising the menu between them to break line of sight with Lapis.

"Look… I'm scared, ok?" Peridot said. "I'm worried if someone I know finds out."

"You know a lot of judgmental people?"

"Almost exclusively." She replied deadpan. "Not to mention twelve plus years of conditioning that make me shame myself so…"

Lapis pulled down the menu.

"Do you… wanna talk about that?" Lapis asked gently. "You seemed to really be enjoying yourself before you freaked out…"

* * *

"I shouldn't have done that. I should not have done that." She repeated to herself. "I can't believe I did that… oh stars if anyone finds out…"

"Peri?" Lapis called out of the speaker.

"I'm so fucked up this is so wrong why did I agree to-"

"Peridot!

"WHAT?!"

"Are you ok?"

There was a pause. And the call disconnected. Lapis texted her. She lied that her internet went out. She asked again if she was ok. Peridot threw up.

* * *

"I suppose… you told me about your circumstances so I should reciprocate."

"Alright… let me put our order in and we'll talk." Lapis got up and walked to the bar while Peridot composed herself. When she returned, the panicked girl had put on a clinical looking game face that Lapis had first seen her using while focusing on games. Lapis waited for her to start.

"I grew up in a highly religious and sex-negative household." She began. "Straight or else, sex is only for procreation, you go to hell for touching yourself, all that bullshit." 

Lapis nodded solemnly. Her parents had thrown her out for being gay, but they weren't inherently anti-sex.

"I grew up getting hammered with that stuff all the time." Peridot sighed. "I couldn't date… even guys. I had no door to my bedroom. I got hit… even for looking at a guy or girl the 'wrong way'." Her voice quivered. "It was abuse, even if I didn't understand it at the time. I got out as soon as I could but certain things still make me freak out and recoil. Gives me panic attacks." 

"Peridot… I'm so sorry." Lapis held her hands across the table. "If I had known this would hurt you I never would have asked." Peridot's hands shook, before grasping hers back.

"No… I… I don't wanna be this way anymore. I don't wanna feel like this." Peridot said. "I thought it would be like immersion therapy… help me get over it. Or at least desensitized to it so I don't have the panic attacks. I want to keep trying… I just want you to understand where I'm coming from."

A basket of French fries and chicken strips was silently dropped off at their table… the server not wanting to get involved in whatever was going on here.

"I get it." Lapis answered. "That stuff about being more comfortable in your own skin wasn't just about streaming huh?" Peridot shook her head. "What can I do to help? And before you refuse, you're already helping me it's only fair." She asserted.

"I… I'm not sure yet. But I promise to let you know."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

Lapis squeezed Peridot's hand tighter. Peridot hesitantly squeezed back.

"So how did you… get out of that situation? And figure yourself out?"

"Well, I was closely monitored." Peridot said. "Web filters and nanny software… but it didn't account for games. They still had this notion that video games were the old simple ones… not realizing that online games let people, Y'know, talk. Plus… some of the character designs… woo… that helped me figure out some things."

"So what, no one in real life?"

"I tried the straight thing. Made out with a boy at a football game like every stereotype. Felt nothing. That pretty much confirmed it.

"I see." Lapis answered, pausing to have some fries.

"My friend Amethyst… when I told her about all this she helped me realize how shitty my family was and that it was technically abuse." Peridot sipped her drink. "She wanted me to try to get emancipated, but I wasn't brave enough to try. Once I hit 18 I just ghosted. Set myself up here with her help."

"Sounds like she's a good friend." Lapis couldn't help but draw a parallel to Sadie and the support she'd been given.

"Yeah." Peridot smiled fondly. "She's a pain in the ass sometimes though. But I think that applies to everyone once you know them long enough."

* * *

"Oh this is exciting!" 

"Pearl, it's a poetry reading. It's not exciting." Amethyst shot back as they entered the student union.

"Of course you'd think that."

"Hey, if you're tryin' to call me uncultured then say it to my face."

"Do you want free food or not?"

"...k, I'll be respectful."

"Rose showed me what she's been working on and it's beautiful. I just wanna show her support."

"You are head-over-heels for her aren't you?" Amethyst asked. "Wait… your head normally is above your feet. That's normal. The hell does that expression even mean?"

"True. And heels over head is… a different kind of love." Amethyst's mouth gaped.

"PEARL." She said. "Did you just make a DIRTY JOKE?'

"Maybe…" She blushed.

"DAYUM, it's like hearing Minnie Mouse swear, it just blew my mind." Amethyst continued.

"I'm not that big a square Amethyst."

"You were till you met her. At least from where I'm standing." Amethyst asserted. "So tell me… which one of you winds up 'heels-over-head' then?" Pearl blushed furiously.

"We take turns…" She answered quietly. Amethyst would have kept the gentle ribbing going but as they walked into the bar she was distracted.

No way. No freaking way.

Mistress Lazuli. Her camgirl of choice. In the flesh. Sharing a chicken basket with… 

Peridot?


	7. Half-Disclosure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two heroines have a talk about it.
> 
> One heroine refuses to talk about it.

* * *

Amethyst and Pearl just walked in.

Peridot took a moment to process that.

Threat analysis:

  * Neither of them know Lapis. They don't know what she does.
  * Pearl doesn't know anything.
  * Amethyst knows she had been flirting/working with a camgirl, but didn't know her name or what she looked like. Risk of her putting it together though.
  * Being in class together they had plausible deniability for being in each others company.
  * Safest route confirmed. Executing…



"So Lapis, any idea what Frankenstine adaptation you're doing for the assignment?" Peridot hard turned the conversation. "I mean the Universal Classics one is iconic and has plenty of existing analysis to cite but I'm thinking of finding something more modern and obscure…"

"Uh… wait, I thought we were still talking about-"

"Amethyst! Pearl!" Peridot suddenly and unsubtlely yelled across the room, the two of them approaching their table. "Fancy meeting you here! This is my classmate Lapis! We're working on a group project!" She rushed out before Lapis could object and hoped she'd take the hint.

So… turns out your best friend's new cam-girl friend just happens to be the one you watched last night. Amethyst figured the only one in the room who could calculate those odds was Peridot, and under no circumstances could she find out.

She had to play it cool.

"... Hey."

Totally cool.

"Nice to meet you." Pearl stuck her arm out for a handshake like a dork. "I'm 3rd year in the nursing program. What are you studying?"

"Oh… undecided… still getting all my general ed but I'm leaning towards the arts…" It was surreal to her to hear Mistress Lazuli talking about school stuff compared to her on screen dirty talk. Amethyst stared at Peridot who was casually following the conversation between the two while chewing on some fries.

"Hey Dot." Amethyst nudged her. "How are things?"

"Pretty good I guess. Heard there's a new Warframe patch, might stream tonight if you wanna tag along in the party. You could level grind that new Chroma." Peridot descended into gaming talk.

"Are you gonna be Mesa? Because if you are, I will get like 0 kills again."

"I can't help being good at shooting things in the face." Peridot shrugged.

Amethyst felt annoyed. Peridot had deflected immediately into gaming talk before she could bring Lapis up. Then again, she was right there. Then again, it seemed Lapis and Pearl were deep in convo and might not notice.

"How's that other business coming along?" Amethyst asked.

"Hmm?"

"That uh… moderating job." Peri froze.

"It's good."

"That all?"

"Yep." Peridot took out her phone and went silent. Amethyst thought she might be about to receive a discreet text, but no such message came.

She was being ignored then.

Peridot and Lapis had stayed for part of the poetry reading out of politeness, and also to finish their food. Pearl had spent some time looking around for Rose, but she never showed up. Probably stage fright, Peridot had figured. She talked to a stream, but she couldn't fathom anyone's interest in public speaking in actual public.

* * *

"They will find out."

"Is that a threat?" Rose asked.

"No." Her eldest sister replied. "It's inevitable."

Today had been the elementary school's "Records Day", so she had to have Steven be watched by his Aunt Patti for the day. When she had come to pick him up, the same old argument had ensued. Patti had figured out Rose's secret job. Their middle sister Lisa and their mother had not. Yet.

Steven climbed onto the playground equipment once again and made a beeline for the slide, blissfully unaware of his Aunt and Mother's tense conversation on a distant bench.

"You shouldn't have to do this kind of thing Rose." Patti asserted. "I know you're trying to support Steven, but there are other ways. If you made up with Mom and came home she could…"

"I'm not gonna let Steven be treated the way I was." Rose said flatly. "I don't care about Mom's money. It's not worth it."

"Fine, but you should at least tell Lisa."

"And what would that accomplish other than getting CPS called on me?"

"You really think she would do that?!" Patti shot back angrily.

"Not taking that chance." Rose asserted. "Look, I really appreciate what you and Lisa have done… watching Steven when I can't be there." Rose said quietly. "And I know you love him too. I just want what's best for him. And I'm back at school and trying to get out from under this… thing, so we can both have a better life."

"That sounds very mature." Patti seemed accepting, before throwing that good will under a bus. "If only you had been that mature when you ran off with…"

"STEVEN! Time to go!"

* * *

"Could you believe that last guy?" Lapis laughed hard as they walked together across campus. "My clothes reflect my soul, but they come from a thrift store…" she imitated, Peridot joining her laughter.

"Are we… still on for tomorrow's stream?" Lapis asked hesitantly. Peridot took a deep breath before replying.

"Yeah. I want to try again." Peridot looked serious for a moment. "But… I'm not too sure about this whole arrangement anymore." Their walk ground to a stop.

"How so?"

"Look, I'm…. I'm very attracted to you." Peridot blushed deeply. "Your pretty, but you're also funny and fun and interesting… I like you." Lapis' face also became flushed. 

"You said you weren't interested in a relationship. But I would be lying to say I wasn't. And if I wasn't honest with you about that, I'd feel… I dunno, like I was acting under false pretenses. You get what I mean?"

"... I do." Lapis answered quietly. "Maybe I haven't been honest with you either." She admitted. "I wanted a 'just business' arrangement because I was scared of another relationship. Another Jasper." Peridot noticed a deep tension in her shoulders at that name. "I can tell your not like that. Especially now… she never could have actually said the things you just did." She paused, taking a deep breath. "And to be honest, I've been thinking the same sort of thing lately. You just said it better than I could." Lapis blushed. Peridot smiled, restraining glee.

"So does that mean?"

"Yeah… let's date." Lapis hugged her.

"... and some other things…" She whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> "Other things" happen.

**Author's Note:**

> This doesn't replace SSRR, just a place to come break the Writer's Block. There will be sex, but also a lot more plot. And humor.


End file.
